Mobiles.co.uk - deliberately misleading advert?

OneADay

Finally got it - b____y tabs at top.

Looks like they have mixed up their deals, the best deal is Dolphin 30 but they make it out that its the Dolphin 40.

I think "-overkill" - you should take screen shots of all these pages showing exact information and take it to trading standards and to Orange as well.

-overkill-

rca779 wrote: »

Always check & double check the small print

Thats the thing mate, I cant find any small print ! To me there is no way to work out the price from the info they've provided .... other than arriving at the £20/month as advertised !

The only variable being the cost they offer Dolphin 40 for and if thats the case, whats to stop them from saying that their price for the Dolphin 40 bundle is £100 ?

OneADay

You have to work out the deal yourself but the initial banner is completely mis-leading (one of the worst cases I have seen). There was another scenario with a Samsung Tocco deal which was being advertised by mobiles.co.uk under 12 month on front page - only to get to the second page its a 24 month contract.

-overkill - take screen shots of the pages quick and take them to court I say - its blatently wrong.

Guys_Dad

I would advise you to take a copy of the web page. I would then quote the bit that I copied in my second post and ask them to honour that. Write to their MD or even the elusive Ben (see other mobiles.co.uk posts).

But - and this is important - a lot depends upon the documentation you got with the phone. What exactly did that say? If it was clearer than the ad, then that weakens your case.

I believe that the wording of the ad is a copy mistake - but who is to say whether the 14 months half price by redemption is the error or whether £20 per month is the error? If it is the "best deal" and there is a better one on the page (the Dolphine 30 one) then obviously the best deal has to work out better, has it not?

This is one to threaten court proceedings on if they don't give you the benefit of the doubt but make sure you have a copy of the paperwork/ screen as they will probably "correct" it soon.

Quentin

Involve Orange with this scam. Let them know how you have been duped by mobiles.co.uk, and ask for their assistance in getting the matter resolved.

Send them a copy of the screenprint, and ask for the matter to be escalated to the appropriate department within orange.

It is very telling about mobiles.co.uk real attitude towards "fairness" to customers when they have ignored all but the first of your e-mails.

Mobiles.co.uk_company_representative

Hi,

The "Best Deal" tab is unrelated to the "Best Deal" arrow on the tariff table - one is our best deal, full stop, and the other is what we consider to be the best tariff on any given network.

On the "Best Deal" tab at the top is a large graphic stating 14 months' half price line rental and then listing the benefits/stats for this option; line rental quotes "after redemption" and is for the length of the offer, in this case 14 months.

Since we introduced this design a lot of competitors and price comparison sites have started using "Equivalent Cost Per Month" figures (total cost/contract length), which this is not, but I have asked someone to look at making it clearer that the quoted line rental is only for the length of the offer shown at the top.

Regards,

Guys_Dad

Mobiles.co.uk_company_representative wrote: »

Hi,


On the "Best Deal" tab at the top is a large graphic stating 14 months' half price line rental and then listing the benefits/stats for this option; line rental quotes "after redemption" and is for the length of the offer, in this case 14 months.


Regards,

Welcome back!

That's not the point, though. The offer also reads :-

• HTC Hero on Orange - FREE!
• Orange Dolphin 40 (24 Months)
• With 1200 mins & Unlimited texts + 500MB data per month
• Your monthly line rental will be £20.00 per month after redemption
• Gadget Phone Support - first month FREE, cancel at any time, £2.99/month.
• PhoneCare Insurance - first month FREE, cancel at any time, £7.99/month.

and the OP feels he should be paying £20 per month. I think your offer wording is mixed up, but it was the £20 per month that attracted him to the offer.

Quentin

Mobiles.co.uk_company_representative wrote: »

I have asked someone to look at making it clearer that the quoted line rental is only for the length of the offer shown at the top.

Rmembering the boast you made about being the "fairest" retailer on the net, and seeing that you clearly accept this is misleading, thus "unfair", will you be fair to this customer and let them cancel?

Mobiles.co.uk_company_representative

Thanks - Swine Flu, which I'm sure will lead to a rash of bad jokes from certain users.

The offer is very clearly detailed everywhere else in the purchase process, from tariff table to cart to order confirmation email to invoice but the above wording could be ambiguous given the way the rest of the industry is now marketing "equivalent monthly cost" so I'm getting it qualified with "initial" or "introductory" or "for the length of the line rental discount offer" or similar.

Regards,

Guys_Dad

Quentin wrote: »

Rmembering the boast you made about being the "fairest" retailer on the net, and seeing that you clearly accept this is misleading, thus "unfair", will you be fair to this customer and let them cancel?

or give him that deal for the length of the contract.